The Holidays Weren’t So Giving

December started off promising. I hit some scarce diggable areas in the oldest part of my home town and found some goodies:

WWII Era Pocket Spill

My first dig of December just kept on giving. Wheat penny after wheat penny, followed by a 1940s Mercury dime. All the wheat pennies were from the same era as well. This was an obvious pocket spill. A pocket spill, in detecting speak, means a grouping of coins found in or around a single hole, generally assumed to have fallen out of one unlucky person’s pocket when he or she decided to take a rest and sit on the ground.

Anchor Button and Small Bullet

Right after finding the pocket spill, I dug up a very small bullet (perhaps 22 caliber) followed by a small button with an anchor. I think the button is from the 40s or 50s, like the coins in the spill.

Toy Soldier

The finds kept coming with this old toy soldier. Hey kids, just think about how good you’ve got it with your Transformers and Xbox One’s! This is the toy your grandparents played with!

Clanger?

This next find, well, I’m not sure exactly what it is. It seems to be some sort of bell/clanger, with the ball still in it (frozen in place). Time will tell if I can get an ID on it.

Spoon/Fork Ring

My coolest find of the day was undoubtedly this men’s ring made out of a spoon or fork. Impossible to know when it was made, but the utensil itself seems turn of the century plated silver. It cleaned up very nicely too.

As December rolled on and we entered the holiday season I had two more detecting outings. Both were at some very promising, old land and I was super optimistic. However, the land was not fruitful on either excursion. Not only didn’t I find anything good, I simply didn’t find much! Not even garbage. Very odd as these properties should have turned up something, but they simply weren’t in the holiday spirit. All digs can’t go well I suppose!

That being said, I did find ONE cool item, and it required no digging.

Juan Jacinto Jova brick

Frozen to a tree branch, I easily pried this 1884 Juan Jacinto Jova brick into my cold hands. Remember bricks? Full bricks, not those facade thin ones that seem to be sued everywhere nowadays? Juan Jacinto Jova was a Cuban immigrant who failed in the sugar industry and turned to brick making in the north east. You can read more of his story here. Why there weren’t other bricks or other relics from the time period is a mystery!

I’m very much looking forward to 2014. We have some fantastic properties that we hope to hunt on and save more relics from their current places of rest. As always, keep checking back for updates and photos!